History of Acai Berry
The history of acai is deep rooted in the traditions of the Amazon people and the modern countries that occupy that territory.
The acai (ah-sigh-ee) berry has been around for thousands of years.
It was not introduced to the western world until the 1990s.
The tribes of the Amazon Rain Forest first used the berry to help various aliments due to its tremendous health properties. In fact, it is estimated that the indigenous tribes regularly use two thousand of the three thousand known rainforest fruits for medicinal purposes.
The Amazonian tribes found out that it helped build the immune system, fight infection, protect the heart, and control prostate enlargement (nature’s viagra), and acai berry and better sex.
The acai berry was also discovered to fight schistosomosis, a disease transmitted by snails. Schistosomosis affected more than 10 million Brazilians–how about that for the earth giving us what we need. The acaí berry is also used to produce an antibiotic that helps to fight against ‘Staphylococcus aureus,’ a common infection contracted mainly in hospitals.
The acaí berry grows on a palm that has a long thin trunk up to 25m high with a group of branches at the top from which hangs ribbon-like leaves. Acaí berries hang from these branches in clusters. Traditionally the acai berries would be picked by hand and the tribe’s men would shimmy up the tree and cut the branches from the top of the palm tree rich in acai berries.
Now that the acai berry has been discovered as a highly sought after crop by the population of Brazil it is mass produced, as it only has a 24-hour life span in which the properties of the juice are still active. The acai berries must be loaded into baskets and onto boats soon after picking. Each acai palm tree produces round about 20 kg of fruit per year.
The most recent history of acai is that it has been endorsed by such talk show hosts as Oprah Winfrey and has been seen as a feature on her show, a berry with star success.
The video below looks at the Kayapo Indigenous group of Pará, Brazil who eat wild açaí that grows in their protected rain forest.
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